Lots of new goals this year, lots of resolutions to fall down on. Or not, depending on the optimism level. Three are relevant to this blog:

1: Finish writing the book. I’m quite fed up with myself on this one. It has been a back-burner project for far too long. So I have mapped out a plan to finish it and hopefully get it sold—set myself deadlines and everything. We’ll see how it goes.

2: Read more. This may be a tad misleading, as I don’t really think I could read more than I do now—but the plan is to read less stuff for my job and more stuff that I actually want to read. I have three piles of Books To Read by my bed: one stack is material relating to my first goal; one is a pile of YA books I want to read so I can discuss them with my kid when he reads them, and one is a pile of fiction that I keep meaning to dig into and just never get around to. I suspect the house will be filthier than ever this year, but those piles are going to get smaller, by golly.

3: Reach out more. All this reading and writing, while fulfilling in and of itself, should not be my own personal cul de sac. My third intention is to get myself out there more; keep up with goodreads, blog more here, post more about my explorations on social media and maybe make some useful and interesting connections as a result. Or maybe just keep a running tally for my own smug purposes. Whatever!

So for the few of you who read this and are not spammers, I hope you’ll give me positive reinforcement with comments and critiques, suggestions and strictures, dialogue and diatribes!

To kick off the new year, I read the first three books of Lemony Snicket’s All the Wrong Questions series. Not as good as Unfortunate Events, but as I’m older than the target audience they were a breeze to finish and they gave me and the kid something to talk about. Now, I’m plowing through the Divergent series. Finished the first book over the weekend and started the second. I’ll reserve opinion til I’ve finished the trilogy—I’ll offer a small spoiler by mentioning that the kid informed me yesterday that there’s also a spin-off ebook and I’m not sure I’m willing to go out of my way to get it.

What did y’all think of Divergent? And what are you reading now? Or should I just go troll your goodreads accounts??

Great goals! Reach out more… yes, that one resonates. (So, I will! At least virtually.) I haven’t started writing a book; therefore, no pains about not finishing it. I do however very much believe that you WILL finish writing that book this year and kick it into the endzone, or rather, find an awesome publisher. And the fans will go wild! (My cheering, if you recall, was reserved for the pep band at pep rallies.)

I did read a good chunk of Divergent in the library a couple of years ago. I was searching for a quote to use as an example of a particular grammatical form for an instructional guide for middle school teachers on how to teach grammar…when I got sucked in. I recall liking it, although somewhat sheepishly. The fact that I was supposed to be focused on my grown-up, contracted task of studying form—and definitely NOT on indulging in the content—of teen novels may have lent the experience the heightened enjoyment of the taboo. I began reading probably a third of the way through (again, I started out simply scanning for a particular sentence structure) and was drawn in for several chapters. I honestly can’t remember whether I finished it or skipped ahead to read the ending. I do recall thinking it to be a bit derivative, didn’t check it out, and I never found the grammar example I was seeking.

OK, this feedback is not helpful at all! I should have started with “I’m experiencing insomnia right now…” And now, I’m going to make a resolution to go back to bed and try to fall asleep.

Seems like your resolution should be sleeping potions! 🙂 I’m midway through the second book in the trilogy now and “derivative” is spot-on. But you’re also right that it sucks you in, which I guess is a sign of good brain candy…and I have the excuse of pretending that the kid and I will discuss them at some point, so it doesn’t feel like a complete time sink. His reading habits are all over the place these days. He finished A Clockwork Orange before Thanksgiving, and I’m baffled as to how he understood any of it, but he clearly got the gist since he answered the six questions I put to him about it. Then he threw himself in reverse and read the new Lemony Snicket series while we were in Florida.

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Lucien Fewell shot James Clark after he apparently ran off with Lucien's 16-year-old sister. The murder trial that followed featured two Confederate generals and a former Virginia governor. What was the verdict? (also on Amazon.com)